A Matter of Taste

Is it better to have discerning taste or to be in-discriminant with your taste?

I don’t think you get to choose what you like, so let me clarify. Do you think that your life is better if you only prefer the ‘finer’ things, or if you can enjoy everything?

I’ve seen a lot of ‘snobs’ of different types, and there is a tendency for those people to think they’re superior, and that they’re getting a superior experience. I’m a film snob, and a food snob (maybe I’m just a picky eater, and someone like Gordon Ramsay is a food snob, after all I love things like Slim Jims), but I’ve never been convinced that I’m better off for it.

I’ll give you an example: I hate certain movies, Dirty Dancing and Grown-Ups to name a couple. I cannot stand them. I think they’re (almost) objectively bad movies, but there are plenty of people who enjoy both. Those people have received enjoyment/entertainment from liking those films, and that’s a positive. Nothing positive has come from me hating those movies. It’s not a warm and fuzzy feeling, I don’t get some thrill out of it. Wouldn’t it be better for me if I could just enjoy those movies?

I’ve actually thought this about food for a long time. I’ve always been a picky eater, and arguably my life is more difficult (not meaning that in a “this is my struggle” kind of way) but if a friend or family member wants to go to a restaurant, I have to look online to see what I can get beforehand. If it’s a seafood restaurant, I have to try to determine which non-seafood option will be prepared the least poorly (I don’t eat seafood, and basically those restaurants assume anyone not eating seafood is a child and give you the shittiest chicken tenders/hot dog/spaghetti options ever.)

In this way, I’m trying to have my wife give our son fish when she has it, and I’m hoping that he won’t have the same aversion to it that I do. I will attempt to do that with movies for him. I will try not to talk shit about movies that he likes, and not ruin them for him. Ultimately, I’m hoping that when he’s fully formed (or as close as we all get) that he can be happy and enjoy as much of life as possible.

Let me ask you again:

Is it better to have discerning taste or to be in-discriminant with your taste?

I know that we cannot control it in ourselves, but what benefit does it give us to actively dislike Nickelback, or Grown-Ups, or seafood? Isn’t life better when you can just keep moving forward and don’t have to change the radio station, can just pick up a menu and select at random, or can enjoy whatever’s on TV?